The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun an inquiry into Mark Hurd's departure as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co., according to two people familiar with the matter. The people declined to be identified because the inquiry hasn't been made public. The securities regulator is looking into whether Hurd leaked information about HP's planned acquisition of Electronic Data Systems Corp. to a contractor, according to a published report. Hurd, 53, left HP on Aug. 6 after an investigation found that he violated standards of business conduct by concealing a personal relationship with a contractor.

Hewlett-Packard Co. reported a profit of $2.5 billion, or $1.10 a share, an increase of about 5% from a year earlier for a fourth quarter in which the tech giant was running largely without a chief executive. The Palo Alto company said it generated about $33.3 billion in sales during the three-month period ended Oct. 31, an increase of about 8% from a year earlier. The earnings report, issued Monday after markets closed, was rosier than analysts had predicted. HP's new chief executive, Leo Apotheker ?

Question: I am concerned about the leadership turmoil at Hewlett-Packard Co. affecting my stock. What is your opinion of it? Answer: More important than the drama surrounding this computer hardware giant is its expansion into database and business application software. Hewlett-Packard is in fine financial condition, with plenty of cash and manageable debt. But to adapt to changing times, the firm intends to concentrate on four areas, with so-called enterprise software joining printers, personal computers and technology services.

If ever there was an election in which Sen. Barbara Boxer's foes appeared to have their chance to defeat her, it was this one. Voters showed an inclination toward sweeping out longtime incumbents, and Boxer's resume included 28 years in Washington. Voters were skeptical about the effectiveness of the Obama administration's programs to recharge the economy, and she was one of the fiercest defenders of the federal stimulus bill and the new healthcare law. Californians said they were looking for leaders with economic expertise and an ability to create jobs, and she was a senator best known for ideological crusades on social issues, running against an opponent who was the first woman to run a Fortune 20 company.

One night a few years back, a California communications executive named Deborah Bowker was worried about her husband, who was sick and hospitalized. An old friend told her she shouldn't be alone, that she should come over and stay the night. The guest bedroom at the friend's house was used most often by grandchildren, and contained two tiny beds. That night, Bowker was crying herself to sleep in one of them when the door cracked open. Without a word, Carly Fiorina padded across the room and crawled into the other bed. Bowker and Fiorina have been close friends since they went to MIT together, and little changed for 20 years ?

Carly Fiorina, who is staking her U.S. Senate campaign on her corporate record, contends that California's tax structure is hostile to business ? one reason, she has said, that she was forced to outsource thousands of jobs when she ran Hewlett-Packard Co. But while Fiorina was chief executive of the computer giant, the state was hospitable enough to grant the company a controversial $13-million tax refund even though, state officials said, it had already used credits to offset some income tax bills.

Hewlett-Packard Co. on Monday defended new Chief Executive Leo Apotheker from the latest barrage of criticism and accused former CEO Mark Hurd of lying repeatedly to the board while still HP's chief. HP said there was no evidence that former SAP chief Apotheker, whose appointment disappointed some in the investment community, was involved in misconduct that took place at the German software giant, as asserted by New York Times columnist Joe Nocera. That aggressive stance, laid out in a letter to the New York Times by incoming HP Chairman Ray Lane, could further inflame the company's already testy relationship with partner and rival Oracle Corp.

Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer released a blistering new ad Wednesday that accused rival Carly Fiorina of enriching herself as the chief executive of Hewlett-Packard while presiding over thousands of layoffs and the relocation of American jobs overseas. The 30-second ad, airing on broadcast and cable channels in California's four largest media markets, hews to the central theme that Boxer has tried to drive on the campaign trail: that Republican nominee Fiorina was an unfeeling CEO who valued personal ambition over the jobs of average workers.